Week 12 has arrived in the North Carolina college football season, and for many of our smaller schools, this will be the end of the road.
Others, though, still have playoff aspirations, while a couple schools from our FBS contingent still have bowl eligibility within reach.
Here is what to watch for as another weekend of games is upon us:
North Carolina Central gets ESPNU audience for Friday night clash
The Eagles have had two weeks to stew on their loss to South Carolina State. They’ll play Howard tonight (Friday) at 8 p.m. on ESPNU. Howard derailed NCCU’s MEAC title hopes a year ago, so avenging that loss and finishing this season strong will be on the minds of NC Central seniors as they play in O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium for the last time.
Wingate eyes South Atlantic Conference championship
The 8-1 Bulldogs may be the only team from North Carolina to hoist a conference championship trophy this season. They’ll play for the Division II South Atlantic Conference championship on Saturday afternoon against the only team to defeat them in the regular season, 9-1 Carson-Newman. Kickoff is 3 p.m. at Irwin Belk Stadium.
Carson-Newman has a strong pedigree (21 SAC titles dating back to the 1970s). Wingate won the SAC’s Piedmont Division in 2022 and has two other conference crowns (2010, 2017). It will be a match-up of strength-on-strength, with Wingate’s vaunted defense, among the best in the nation, facing a 1,000-yard rusher and a Carson-Newman attack that foiled them a few months ago.
Tar Heels, Deacs pursue bowl eligibility
Duke got there a few weeks ago, and East Carolina joined the ranks of bowl eligible teams with a crazy 38-31 win at Tulsa on Thursday. North Carolina (5-4) can make it three teams from our state on Saturday night by beating Wake Forest. The Deacs (4-5), meanwhile, need to beat Carolina and then win one of their remaining two contests (against Miami or Duke) to get to the magical six-win plateau.
UNC is riding a two-game win streak after a disastrous four-game stretch that included giving up 70 points to James Madison. Can the Heels win out and get to eight wins? That would be something. Boston College and NC State loom after this weekend.
Watching, waiting, sweating for Johnson C. Smith, Lenoir-Rhyne, Winston-Salem State
Lenoir-Rhyne (8-2) does have one last game to play, hosting Anderson in a SAC cross-division match-up Saturday afternoon. But the regular season is complete for Johnson C. Smith (8-2) and Winston-Salem State (7-3). The three schools, along with Wingate, will find out their D2 playoff fates after the weekend is complete.
JCSU lost its last two games and dropped out of CIAA title-game contention. Will the Golden Bulls’ resume be enough to get into the D2 field? Can Winston-Salem State, a long-shot, sneak in? Will Lenoir-Rhyne get a chance to defend its Super Region 2 title? All three will be on bubble watch as the selection committee builds the final playoff bracket.
Aside from the Carson-Newman at Wingate championship match-up, one out-of-state game could have a serious impact on the playoff fortunes of our Old North State contingent. West Florida visits Valdosta State in what is the de facto Gulf South championship contest. Valdosta is undefeated and ranked first in Super Region 2. West Florida could muck up the playoff field with an upset.
End of the line for most D2, D3 and NAIA divisions
Saturday will mark the final day of the regular season for the vast majority of our smaller schools. Aside from the D2 playoff scenarios mentioned above, the rest of our D2, D3 and NAIA squads will be either celebrating senior days or trying to wreck someone else’s.
Mars Hill visits Limestone in D2 SAC action. That could be a high-scoring affair as several notable Mars Hill seniors play their last game in a Lions uniform.
UNC Pembroke, which has been on a scoring binge of late, will face a struggling Concord squad (1-9). Barton, Catawba, Chowan, Guilford, North Carolina Wesleyan and Methodist all will take a bow before their home crowds one last time.
Campbell looks to take down Blue Hens
The Camels played a tough Richmond squad to the wire last week. Now, they’ll get a shot at another one of the CAA’s elite, traveling to 8-1 Delaware.
Quarterback Mike Chandler II has thrown for 483 yards and six touchdowns his last two outings for Campbell. Those games also included 172 rushing yards and another touchdown. Sincere Brown has emerged as one of the top receivers in the conference, with 11 touchdowns thus far. Beware of kicking off to Randall King, the most recent CAA specialist of the week.
Complete North Carolina College Football Week 12 Schedule
